Zahn on Thrawn’s longevity, future

Thanks to his return to canon–in a best-selling novel and his animated characterization on Disney XD’s Star Wars Rebels–the lone Chiss in the Imperial Navy has reached a new generation of fans with his logic, patience, and cunning.

The Chiss military strategist made his début in 1991’s “Heir to the Empire,” but has most recently been seen hunting rebel scum in [Timothy] Zahn’s latest novel, “Thrawn,” and the CGI animated series “Star Wars Rebels.”

When the 65-year-old sci-fi writer was creating a new Imperial antagonist for his first “Star Wars” novel, he wanted to bring a very different character into a galaxy far, far away — one that stood in contrast to the terrifying Vader and manipulative Emperor Palpatine.

In Keane’s article (loaded with links), Zahn talked about the past, present and future of the blue-skinned genius, noting:

The author has pitched two ideas for sequel stories set after the acclaimed new canon novel.

He has plenty of other ideas further into the timeline (depending on the character’s longevity in other media).

Zahn said there’s always the possibility that Emperor’s Hand Mara Jade (Skywalker) could also make a return, depending on Lucasfilm’s plan.

“What they have planned, I don’t know,” said Zahn to The Daily News. “But they’re keeping their options open, which is always good.”

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A graduate of Boston and Northeastern universities, John Bishop became the beat reporter for BostonBruins.com prior to the B’s 2006-07 hockey season. While with the Bruins, “Bish” traveled North America and Europe to cover the Black & Gold’s every move via laptop, blog, and smart phone. The co-author of two books, Bygone Boston and Full 60 to History: The Inside Story of the 2011 Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins, John covered the XXI Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver in 2010 and the B’s 2011 championship run and banner raising before taking a faculty/communications position at a prep school outside Boston in 2013. He lives with his wife Andrea and sons Jack, Scott, and Luke in central Massachusetts.